Folding chair and the like



March 27, 1934. H. E. TAYLOR FOLDING CHAIR AND THE LIKE Filed Oct. 8, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 fi er/52M Edward Zy/o/i Ewen OP.

March 27, 1934. TAYLOR FOLDING CHAIR AND THE LIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 8, 1931 II|||HulllllllllllllllllllllllluLUIIIIIIIIIHIIllllllllllllliu,

::-;.|||||||||||u||u|||||||um mmnnmmzalllllll ||||||||||m||mu|m||||||||||||||||||||||m||||||||||||||||n IHrlh Patented Mar. 27, 1934 PATENT OFFICE FOLDING CHAIR AND THE LIKE Herbert Edward Taylor, It uildington, Nottinghamshire, England Application October 8, 1931, Serial No. 567,701 In Great Britain September 15, 19 31 1 Claim.

This invention comprises improvements in seats and the like and has reference to that type of chair or the like in which the support is constituted by intersecting legs adapted to be folded or collapsed.

The present invention has amongst its objects to provide a new and improved collapsible or foldable support for chairs of the type referred to. V

In chairs of this type it has heretofore been customary to pivot the upper end of one of each pair of intersecting chair legs to the seat frame or an arm rest or part thereon, the other leg of each intersecting pair being releasably connected with the seat frame or arm rest to permit of the chair being collapsed and folded up.

The present invention has for an object to provide an improved construction of folding chair or like seat in which both legs are both pivoted to a member such as the seat frame or an arm rest.

For the purpose of more fully describing the nature of this invention reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 illustrates in side elevation a chair in accordance with the present invention in the erected position.

Figure 2 is a side View of the chair when folded.

Figure 3 is an enlarged view of one side of the folded chair looking underneath same.

Figure 4 is a detail view in side elevation illustrating a modification.

Figure 5 is an enlarged detail view showing part of the device in Figure 4 in the folded con dition as seen from underneath.

Figures 6 and 7 illustrate in prespective two types of locking links applicable for use on the chair.

In one method of carrying out the present invention, the support for the chair is constituted by two pairs of pivoted intersecting legs 1, 1a, one pair being located at each side of the chair. The upper extremity of the leg 1 of each pair of legs is permanently pivoted at 2 to an arm rest 3 or vertically disposed part associated therewith, and the corresponding leg 1a of each pair of intersecting legs is itself adapted to collapse or fold up. This is advantageously effected by constructing each of said collapsible or foldable legs 1a of a plurality of relatively pivoted members, for example two, constituted by the main portion or leg proper 1a and an upper link portion 11), the point of articulation 4 of said members being a suitable distance above the point of intersection 5 of the chair legs, and the link portion 1b, being pivotally connected with the arm rest 3 at 2.

To prevent the accidental collapse of each articulated chair leg 1a when the chair is in the erected position, a plurality of relatively pivoted links, or toggle member 6 is employed, the outer end of each link of said toggle being pivotally connected to the intersecting chair legs, it being understood that the toggle is connected to the foldable legs at a position above the point of intersection 5. One link of the toggle is connected at the point where the two members which go to form the leg 1a are pivoted together.

One link of the toggle 6 may be provided on its upper edge with a protruding lip 7 or the like which prevents either of the two links assuming a horizontal position and thus prevent the ready collapse of the chair, (see Figure 6). This may, however, be accomplished by pressing a small tongue portion 8 from the upper edge of one link towards the second link so as to come into contact with a flat end face of said second link (see Figure '7).

When it is desired to fold up the chair the two-part foldable leg 1a is pivoted about its point of intersection 5 with the other leg so that the lower or main part thereof coincides with the said other leg and the upper portion lb coincides with or lies up against the arm rest 3, the pivoted links of the toggle 6 being also folded one over the other and. accommodated between the main part of the ioldable leg 1a and the other leg 1, as will be seen by reference to Figures 2 and 3.

To facilitate the folding up of the legs closely beneath the horizontal arm rest 3 and also facilitate the accommodation of the toggle links 6 between the two legs, the upper link portion 11) of the two part leg 1a preferably comprises a twisted metallic or other member of fiat section, the central portion of which is adapted to receive the other or non-collapsible leg 1 of the intersecting pair when the chair is in the collapsed position, as shown in Figure 3.

In the modified construction shown in Figures 4 and 5, the upper portion lb of the two-part leg la is of fiat metal having its upper pivoted end of cranked or L shape, said crank permitting folding of the several members as above.

To prevent any injury to the hand by coming in contact with the upper portions 11) of the chair legs, a vertical or substantially vertical guard plate or flange may be provided depending from a horizontal portion of the arm rest 3, as indicated in broken lines at 9 in Figures 1 and 4.

This depending flange may, if desired, extend the entire length of the arm, thus enclosing or hiding from view the pivots 2 and also the links lb and 6 when the legs are folded.

Furthermore to improve the appearance of the chair the lower portion of the leg 1a may be extended upwardly exteriorly of the metal or other upper member 12) to hide same from view entirely or partially when the chair is erected.

It will be appreciated that the present invention facilitates the folding of a chair by reason of the fact that the necessity of disconnecting the upper ends of any of the intersecting legs from the arm rest, frame member or the like is obviated.

The invention is applicable to any chair or seat of the type set forth. For example, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, the chair may be of the type wherein the part 10 constituting a seat frame or support is pivotally connected by front and rear bars 11 and 12 to the side arm rests so as to form a parallelograrninic structure, said seat frame 10 being adapted to swing or pivot beneath the arm rests 3, which are held stationary, relatively to the legs 1.

The front pivoted bars of the parallelogrammic structure may be continued downwardly to constltute a foot rest frame carrying at its lower part any suitable construction of foot rest 13, the rear pivoted arms 12 of the structure extending upwardly to constitute a back rest frame, the arrangement being such that the swinging motion imparted to the seat frame 10 simultaneously imparts to the back frame 12 and front frame 11 varied degrees of inclination. The pivoted front and back frame members 11 and 12 are preferably connected by transverse bars 14, similar transverse bars being also provided for connecting the intersecting legs 1 at one side of the chair with those at the other side. A canvas sheet 15 is attached to the top cross bar 14 of the back frame and extends down on to and forwardly over the seat frame 10, said sheet being held down on to the seat frame by any suitable means such as a piece of cord 16 extending over the canvas 15 across the rear of the seat frame.

If desired, a double thickness of canvas may be provided on the seat, one sheet of said double thickness being permanently secured to the seat frame.

I claim:

A folding chair or the like comprising a seat; frame members; connections between the seat and the frame members; a plurality of pairs of legs whereof in each pair the two legs intersect are pivoted together, and at their upper ends are pivoted to a frame member by pivots that are spaced apart in fixed relation to each other, and one of said legs in each pair is itself formed of two parts hinged together to fold intermediate of its pivot to the other leg and its pivot to the frame member, the construction preventing any sliding of the hinged parts relative to each other, and a folding toggle that extends between the two legs of a pair and is pivoted to the folding leg of that pair at the hinge uniting the two foldable parts of such leg.

HERBERT EDWARD TAYLOR.

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